Shadowy Secrets at Dusk
by PopTop38
Summary: The Volturi gets taken over. Homeless, furious, and lost at what to do, Aro, Marcus, and Caius go to the one coven that might accept them. The Olympic Coven. To their disbelief though, the Cullens are gone. Needing a place to live, they stay in the deserted house. And that is where they meet a broken girl, who knows who they are and is wanting to die. A/B/C/M.
1. Karma

_But he that hides a dark soul and foul thoughts benighted walks under the mid-day sun; Himself is his own dungeon.-_John Milton.

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Chapter One-** Karma**

Aro's cavernous velvet-red eyes gazed down at the large ancient book in his lap, but was covered in a thin veil of blankness. Once again, he was reliving the many moments of his existence since becoming a vampire. His newborn life in Rome, finding Caius and Marcus his old friends who he had knew when he was human, traveling to Italy with his new immortal brothers, and then setting up the most powerful coven in the world with them known as today, the Volturi. However, there was one memory that he wished not to remember. The battle against the Romanians. All those centuries ago, he had committed a great sin that still haunted him at night, in the darkest parts of his now sadistic mind. _Didyme, my dearest sister, Marcus, my troubled brother, won't you forgive me_, Aro begged in his sadden thoughts. He knew he would not received a answer, but it still eased a bit of the guilt that torn at his heart and mind with each passing day.

For you see, Aro killed Didyme, his own flesh and blood, for his own dark desires and hopeless greed. And what's worse, it was a intentional murder. The moment Aro found out that his gifted brother, Marcus, who could see the strength in bonds, thus making it easy to know who to destroyed first in battle, was leaving with Didyme for a life of peace and their undying love, something in him…burned, to the point that murder seemed perfectly optional. He had known their was something going on though, for he saw the sweet warmth that had went on between his chosen brother and blood sister when they thought they were hidden in the shadows, away from his sight and the sight of others. In spite of this, it had never occurred to him that his closest family would betrayed him in a way that would actually hurt him. So he planned, planned until his thoughts only swirled with vindictive glee.

At first, he tried to place an affair between them. With a clever face of sheer innocence, he had sent a equal variety of men and women to both Didyme and Marcus, but to his complete surprise, they were not interest. In fact, they had both said to him that pleasure from humans meant nothing to them anymore. What they had purposefully forgot to add was that they were receiving said pleasure from each other. Not discouraged about his first attempt at destroying the love between the two, Aro changed his tactic.

In one of his guard's thoughts, Aro had seen that the male guard was hopelessly in love with Didyme. And not the false love that his sister would caused unintentionally due to her somewhat potent gift, but real love. So, without trying to seem like he was involved, he cleverly coaxed the young man to try to court Didyme, in which, would make Marcus deliciously jealous and hopefully, make him furious with his naïve half-mate. It did make Marcus envious, seeing the young man charmed his way to listen to Didyme's sweet laughter, but it pushed him to the edge as well. The next morning, the man was missing, the other guards saying that the last time they saw him was the night before when he was on a walk through the gardens with Didyme. When Aro brought up the situation to his brothers later on that evening, Marcus seemed cold and indifferent, only hissing things like, "Most likely he left us due to discontent," or, "He won't be a great loss to us."

Curious at what was going on in his brother's usually calm mind, Aro had raised a hand out with twitching fingers. Marcus seemed reluctant to show him his thoughts, but didn't outwardly object. Within seconds their fingertips touched, the memories of what Marcus did came rushing out at Aro in a angry horde.

The poor guard had been in the middle of conversing pleasantly with Didyme when Marcus called for him in a shadowy corner. Unknowing that he was walking to his painful death, the guard kissed Didyme on the back of her hand with an tender, "Goodnight," before striding over to one of his masters. Expression carefully blank, Marcus tilted his head slightly and spoke in a cleverly normal tone even though the beast in him wanted to shout, "There is something we must discuss…in my private office."

And that was where Marcus did his deadly deed. Tying up the confused guard to a wall once the door was locked, he ripped the body parts from the man and set them alight, starting with fingers and toes. With each part removed, he had snarled the possessive words, "Didyme is mine! MINE!"

By the time the agonized guard was only a stump of a head, Marcus was foaming clear bluish green venom at the mouth and his scarlet red eyes were wild with possessiveness and anger. That's when Aro realized he would have to do something drastic to keep his brother with him, but not cause anymore deaths among his guards. Also, he knew he would have to decide between Power or Family to succeed at doing that. Even till this day, he hasn't regretted choosing power, but he has regretted not finding another way at ending the almost unbreakable bond between his brother and sister. So he rethought his strategy again, this one filled with slaughter, suicide, but most of all, deceit. This plan, however, had some flaws. To be frank, it wouldn't be impossible to get his sister alone, and then ripped her apart and burned the pieces.

The true in that, that his sister trusted him so much she would follow him anywhere, made Aro's silently dead heart weep in shame. But back to the matter. The problem was that there were too many guards that could spot his treason. So he had schemed some more in his private chambers, but was interrupted by hard knocks on the door. "Yes?" he called out, stroking Sulpicia's side in a distracted manner, who was snuggled up beside him in their king-size bed.

"Aro, the Romanians are coming. They have issued a war between our two covens," Caius hissed urgently behind the wooden door. Shocked at the news, Aro froze like a marble statute, his picked- mate gazing up at him with worry. The Volturi made have the more gifted members, but the Romanians were a much bigger coven. Spotting a sliver of fear in Sulpicia's soft eyes though, Aro recovered from his distress and sprang into action. Dressing quickly, Aro turned to his loving wife and gave a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry, Love," he said while leaning down to lay a tender kiss on her forehead, "This will come and go before you know it. Now, please, stay here for the remainder of the night. And lock the door after I leave." Then he walked out the door, closing it behind him.

Caius gazed at him with a face of disbelief, arms crossed in a tight manner. "What?" Aro asked slowly, flicking his eyes up and down his brother's angry posture. He didn't understand what he could have done or say that would caused such an expression on his brother's face. Unless, somehow, Caius found out what he'd been doing a week now, which in that case meant Aro was in big trouble.

Sucking up a deep breath between his clenched teeth, Caius replied back, "Nothing of importance. Let us go, Marcus and the guard are already downstairs in the throne room." Aro nodded, letting out a breath of relief inwardly, and lead the way through the many halls. He and Caius were blurs, swerving left and right at unimaginable speed until they finally reached their journey's end. Together, they burst open the massive doors that instantly revealed the fifteen guards they had and Marcus, who was sitting in his own throne with a look of uneasiness.

"Which one of you were the first one to find out that the Romanians were coming?" Aro demanded in a sharp tone, his eyes scanning over the immortals intently. He needed to know this, just in case if there was a traitor in his coven.

"It was me, sir," A unfamiliar female spoke out, appearing behind some of the standing immortals with a scared expression. She had short, blonde hair that fell delicately about an inch from her shoulders with wide, traditional red vampire eyes. Aro tilted his head in confusion and asked, "And who might you be, my dear?"

The girl lowered her gaze to the ground, "Silica, sir. I was a slave when I was human to one of the Romanian leaders. When he grew tired of me, he drank from my neck but stopped when their was only a quarter of blood left in my body. I don't believe he knows that I am vampire at this very moment." Aro felt a tad of sympathy for the young girl, and a rush of fury to the Romanians. He could not believed how careless and cruel they were. Humans may not be a threat if they're alone, but together, in a giant mob, they were dangerous. Aro shook his head in disgust, different ideas to find a way to end this horrid coven without too many deaths on the Volturi flashing through his brain.

"Brothers, I must announce something," Marcus said with a uncomfortable tone on the edge of his deep voice. Distracted with his thoughts, Aro waved his hand for his odd acting brother to continue. Running a shaky hand through his curly brown hair, Marcus announced nervously, "Didyme and I are…leaving, now." Aro froze for the second time as gasps ranged out from Caius and the guard. Tracing the many shock eyes of the guard with his own, Marcus stood up from his throne with a sad sigh. _No_, Aro had thought in horror, eyes wide. That thing that had been burning in him since he first found out that Marcus and Didyme were leaving officially burned out. It was ashes now. Cold, dark ashes that settled over his heart like a heavy fog.

His eyes twitching, Aro turned to Marcus and whispered in an icy voice, "What?" Everyone immediately went silent at that one word. So much hate, so much malice you could detect in it. Even Caius was shocked, and he was known as the Lord of Hate himself.

Marcus raised his hands out and pleaded, "I'm sorry. I just don't want Didyme to have to deal with the Romanians. We were planning on leaving for a few weeks now anyhow." Aro curled back his lips to snarl words that he had never used with his dark-haired brother before, but stopped when some glass from above him fell at his feet.

"Hello, hello!" A deep, mocking voice tipped with the accent of Romanian shouted from on top of the dome roof. One by one, Romanian vampires broke the glass in the roof and leaped down onto the marble floor, some landing on the Volturi guard with harsh laughter.

"Everyone, attack!" Caius ordered before tackling a nearby Romanian next to him. The twins Alec and Jane, the newest guards, instantly went to action with their gifts. Alec made sure the dark mist of his gift only touched the Romanians, while Jane protected his back with her agonizing power. Felix battled with a equally muscular vampire, ripping an arm off with an derisive laugh before continuing on. Marcus seemed to want to exit out the door, but was fighting with Vladimir in a very close battle. Aro, on the other hand, was free from any fights and had another goal on his mind anyway. He ducked out the entryway and made his way to Marcus's chambers, where he knew Didyme was residing at.

Appearing in front of the oak door, Aro reached for the handle and turned it. It didn't open. _Of course. Marcus would want his __**love**__ to stay safe,_ he hissed silently. Feeling a sudden rush of sadism, Aro cleared his throat and then said in a voice that was a perfect impression of Marcus's, "Didyme, sweet, it's me. Open the door."

Not even a second later, Didyme replied, "Marcus? What's wrong?"

Aro smirked viciously, satisfied that his voice impersonation worked. Eyes closed, he continued in an anxious-filled voice, "The Romanians have attacked us. Please, open the door so we may leave." Aro opened his eyes slowly when a rush of cool air blew past him from the door opening.

"Brother?" Didyme exclaimed, clutching the end of her silk dress in distressed. Aro tilted his head with an taunting smirk, walking through the doorway in a stealthy manner, like an hungry predator. "Aw, what's wrong, Didyme, dear? Expected Marcus? I am getting pretty good at impersonating him, aren't I?" Didyme's face instantly shifted into one of cold fury.

"You said those words? How dare you! I swear, when Marcus gets back." Aro wrapped the fingers of his right hand around his sister's mouth and then the fingers of his left hand around her slender throat, a expression of frosty delight sculpted on his face. "I think we should have a little talk first before Marcus does come back, _sister_." He closed and locked the door, hiding what he was about to do to all who were near.

Not even five minutes later, Aro came back out in the deserted hallway. His face was utterly blank, not a hint of remorse etched in his features. The revolting stench of death and ash drifted from his clothes, staining the pure air surrounding him. Inside his mind where his power lusting beast lived, evil joy was emanating from the creature. But in Aro's heart, contrition was dripping down excessively like droplets of blood.

"No one shall ever find out the real truth about what has happened here," he whispered in the dark space, gazing at single torch that was alight like a guidance beacon. Mechanically, he grabbed it and then tossed it in the shadowy room where Didyme's ashes were at. It landed near the window's curtains, where the tips of the flames caressed the thick fabric until it caught on fire.

He strolled away without a single glance back, his eyes crazed with different emotions. His next destination was the gardens, he being quite curious if there were any Romanians skulking around there as well. Going through an empty room, he leaped from its ivory balcony onto the soft green grass below. The vividly colorful flowers blew away from his direction, almost like they could sense his somewhat malevolent presence. On the rolling horizon, the sun was only a sliver of golden light. Hovering above it was a bright glow of yellow and orange, puffy golden gray clouds crawling past the colors at a lazy speed. And then above that, the dark colors of nighttime with vibrant stars on the edge of emerging. _A perfect dusk_, Aro thought as he sat down on a nearby stone bench. He knew he should be helping his coven against the Romanians, but he just…couldn't face them at that moment. The horrible guilt he was feeling needed to be in control. Also, he had to prepared himself from the horror that would appeared on Marcus's face once he figured out that Didyme was…dead. Just as Aro was going to head to the probably destroyed throne room, he heard something that will forever be imprinted in his memories.

"No!" Marcus's anguished voice echoed around the castle, thrumming painfully inside all who had heard it. It, personally, set Aro's teeth on edge, mostly because he knew what had caused such a strong response. _I'm sorry Marcus, it had to be done_, he solemnly said in his mind.

Suddenly, Aro was pulled from his memories by the annoying snapping of fingers next to his ear from his fair-haired brother. He shook his head, clearing his mind of the many forbidden thoughts he was having. "Took you long enough. Marcus and I thought you had died this time," Caius muttered with a scathing quirk in his narrowed eyes, returning back to the black covered book he was reading. Everyone was quite familiar with Aro always drifting away. He was like a lost soul, moving along but not attentive to his surroundings or the people in it. After a while, the guards got used to the common negligence and just waited until he came back from his recollection journey. They were interested though, for what could cause such inattentiveness in their once focused leader.

"Sorry, I was trapped in my memories again," Aro murmured in a vacant voice. He could feel his brothers' eyes on him, but like always, he gave no explanation. If he did, they surely would not look at him, let alone speak to him. However, this dark secret was eating away at his own being, sending him into a mental, and to a certain extent, emotional death spiral. Each day was filled with agony as he gazed into the melancholy eyes of Marcus, who never did find out the truth. Staring at them now as discreetly as he could, Aro shut his book closed with a loud _thump_ and stood up from his chair. "I think I will retired for the night, brothers." And with that, he exited the room. On the way to his own room, Aro needed to past Marcus's old chambers, where the last bittersweet memory of his sister occupied. He tried everyday to go past it without speeding up his pace, but it was impossible. The burnt room gave him bad shivers every time. It resonated the blood-curdling screams of Didyme, like the echoed sounds in a tunnel.

Pressing the palm of his hands on his ears with intense pressure, Aro full-out ran past the blacken door in a quick burst. He was haunted, by his sister's ghost. That was the merciless consequences of his callous actions. No matter what he did, he would forever be tainted with her blood on his hands. And it was driving him to his breaking point. Turning him utterly insane. So he hid it now behind a fake jovial smile and cheerful personality. Even his own wife did not see the change in him, neither has Aro spoken to her about it. Speaking of which, his wife hasn't been the same since Didyme's death either. She didn't even smiled when Aro would say or do a silly joke for her; that used to make her burst out laughing. Aro honestly didn't expect that his sister's death would altered Sulpicia so much. In fact, he didn't even know they were close friends. But like the selfish man he was, he didn't take it in consideration when he did the murderous exploit. Now his own wife was taking the hit along with him and Marcus.

Filled with the trembling emotions of sadness and regret, and feeling quite emotionally tired, Aro placed his hand on the doorknob of his private chamber's door, but froze mid-turned. Moans of undeniable pleasure were echoing from inside his room, most coming from Sulpicia. That's when Aro's mind shifted into one of no compassion. His heart was bounded by a unbreakable steel chain of ice-cold indifference as well. Eyes blackening into a scary, soul-sucking darkness, Aro revealed the disgusting sight of his wife and a new guard named Alexander fornicating blissfully. "You little, cheating whore," Aro said in a tone as chilly as a frozen lake.

Sulpicia gasped, and instantly spun around to gazed at her furious picked-mate. Leaping off Alexander's lap, she grabbed the silk sheets of the bed and wrapped it around herself. "Aro, love, I…," she began in a scared whisper, clutching the sheet close to herself.

"Get out of my sight, or so help me…," Aro trailed off dangerously, gaze heated with intense fury. Never seeing this side of her picked-mate before, Sulpicia walked out without a word of defiance. The moment she was out the room, all hell broke loose. Fueled by his anger and the need to let out his more melancholy emotions, Aro lunged on the naked guard, (who actually had the gall to begin putting his clothes back on), and tackled him to the wood floor. A shrill scream of horror was heard from outside the door, it coming from Sulpicia, but Aro paid no mind to it. He was blinded with his rage, the edge of his sight rimmed with bloody red haze. Each punch he landed on the guard's face brought fatal cracks to the surface. By the time Caius and Marcus arrived, Alexander looked like an vase dropped to many times to the point that even glue couldn't save it.

"Aro, enough!" Caius shouted as he and Marcus tried to dragged their brother off the male guard by his arms. Knowing he wasn't going to win against two, Aro gave one last vicious kick to Alexander's face that immediately shattered it to bits and pieces. The many guards in the hallway all gasped at the sight, and how ferocious their leader was being. "Please stop, Aro," Sulpicia begged while running up to him through the guards to hold his face in her delicate hands. Deadly silence circled around at her actions. Each and everyone of them were waiting to see how Aro would respond, and respond he did.

Still enraged, Aro leaned towards his soon-to-be divorce wife and hissed through bared teeth, "Leave, you filthy slut. Because after I'm done with your little plaything, I'm coming after you next. So run," he grew an evil smile as he continued, "as fast as you can!" Cruel laughter flew out his throat as he watched Sulpicia take off to wherever the hell she was going. The beast inside him wanted to give chase, to make the woman who broke his heart, feared for her life. But Aro was finished with her. Not caring at whether the guards saw or not, he sagged towards the floor and sobbed relentlessly as the broken feelings of his life overwhelmed him in a rush. For killing Marcus's wife, Karma paid him back by making him lose his own, who he would probably never forgive for the rest of eternity. _Damn you, Karma_.

**Longest chapter I have ever written for a story, I'm so proud of myself! Well, I hope you all enjoyed this first chapter of Shadowy Secrets at Dusk. But I must warn you, this is probably going to have a lot of angst. So get out the tissues and buy some comfort food! Oh, and please do review what you think.**


	2. Deja Vu

**A/n: **Thanks for all who have gave such positive reviews! And thank you for the people who have placed this under their favorites/ and follows.

Chapter 2-** Déjà vu **

Months went by as Summer in Italy turned into Fall. Aro, with eyes narrowed and shoulders tensed, gazed out into the warm horizon as his hands clutched tightly on the ivory rails of his balcony. He could sense Sulpicia was close by, but he couldn't spot her anywhere in town. _Where are you? How come you don't leave? I'm never taking you back, so no point in staying._ Aro felt like she was in the shadows, gazing(or glaring) at him in fury and sadness. Perhaps he was being paranoid though, after all, every time he passed his brother's old chamber, it sounded like Didyme was crying tears of pain from deep inside the room. Shaking his head jerkily, he marched back inside his room where Alexander was tied against the wall with his head down in despair. His shirt and pants were both burned and ripped beyond repair from the many tortures Aro used on him. And the marble skin of his chest that was exposed had pale lashes that were oozing thin lines of venom down his stomach.

"Given up, I see. No point in fighting, hmm?" Aro smirked maliciously as the vampire in question didn't reply. Letting out a dark chuckle, he reached for an small glass bottle that was standing ominously on his dresser. Inside it was a crimson liquid with an couple of small black dots floating in it that weren't viewable by the naked human eye. "Perhaps a sip of some _animal_ blood will make you talk," Aro purred as he walked forward at human speed to Alexander. Almost instantly, Alexander raised his head with wide eyes, the mop of his light brown hair flapping up like wings.

"No! No, please don't, Master Aro," he begged in an hoarse voice while squirming in his heavy chains. Everyone in the Volturi knew what happened when a vampire drunk the blood of an animal. It was an a horrible thing.

The tip of his fangs showing with his smile, Aro grabbed the guard by his neck and poured the liquid down his throat. Alexander closed his lips tightly in noncompliance, but he could already taste the bland blood on the sensitive taste buds of his tongue, slowly traveling down his throat. Red eyes gathering venom tears in the corners, he spat out the vile tasting liquid right into Aro's face who in returned, frowned in disgust.

"You bastard!" Alexander hissed in heated anger, but unmistakable fear was easily spotted in his eyes. Wiping his face with his personal handkerchief, Aro gave a short, mechanical laugh as he walked out the room. Before closing the door however, he looked over his shoulder and whispered in a fake sad tone, "You poor thing. Soon, your body will be eaten from the inside to the out. Have fun until then though." And with that, he closed the door. A cheerful whistle poured out from behind his lips as he walked to the direction of the throne room. His brothers and him were going to discuss the manner of adding temporary homes around, just in case something happened to their permanent home in Volterra. He hoped that they already thought of a few good locations, so he could get the construction started.

With a large smile of complete content, Aro stepped in front of the massive doors leading to the throne and placed his hands against the soft wood. "Hello, my dear brothers," he exclaimed as he pushed them open. The moment the doors were swung back, he froze. Sitting on the marble ground with their arms tied behind their backs, Caius and Marcus gazed at their brother with an mixture of dread and relief swirling in their bloody eyes as the many Romanians surrounding them grinned evilly at Aro. "Nice of you to finally join us, Aro," Vladimir purred as he got up leisurely from Aro's throne and began to walked forward to the stunned man.

"Yes, very nice indeed," Stefan, appearing out the shadows of a dark corner, said with an hungry growl in his dark voice. He clenched and unclenched his hands in dark anticipation as the many Romanians stalked forward to Aro in a dark mass. It looked like a hopeless situation to Aro, that is, until Felix and Demetri came crashing through the doors with all the other Volturi guards following after them. "I knew it! They are here; I could smell their filthy stench from the other side of the gardens!," Felix shouted in fury as he tackled an surprised Romanian to the floor with an loud crash. Thus, starting an bloody battle between the two covens. Aro, realizing the attention was off him, slipped between the fighting bodies as quickly as he could to reached his chained brothers. He could see them struggling to get the chains of steel off their wrists.

Approximately ten feet away, Aro stopped when he heard the bloodcurdling yell of Felix. He glanced over his shoulder to see why his toughest guard was shouting in agony, and nearly screamed in horror himself. Felix was melting to a large puddle, from the tips of his hair to the bottom of his shoes. Almost like somebody just poured a whole barrel of deadly acid on him. "Beautiful power, isn't it?" Aro cracked his head up as Vladimir sneered down at him with dark amusement burning in his rosy-red eyes. His white-blonde hair fell to the side as he tilted his head at Aro. "Do you want to be the next Italian Scum to be victim to it?" Vladimir questioned as he grabbed the collar of Aro's suit jackets to pulled him up off the ground. "Then again, I rather watch you suffer in a more psychological way." He grinned as he dragged Aro, who was fighting back with all his might, to a Romanian guard who was leaning against a tall, white pillar lazily.

"Rosella, use your gift on this fool," Vladimir ordered to the young woman. Rosella, with an cruel smirk and arms crossed, turned to Aro and stared down intensely in his eyes. Immediately, Aro started to feel a icy shiver traveled up from the middle of his spine to the back of his head. Malevolent voices whispered in his ears, speaking of all his sins and wrong doings. Then flashes of memories sprung into his gaze. The one that appeared the most though was the moment when he killed his sister. Each time it flashed up, it was different. The room was darker and more sinister, his sister was more frightened and upset, and the fire that burned away the evidence chased after him to the gardens like a furious mob. "No! I'm sorry, sister! Please, stop haunting me," Aro screamed as the fire formed the ghostly apparition of Didyme with her mouth filled with razor-sharp canines that were bared viciously at him in rage. "No!" Didyme's fiery form crashed over him in a large wave of molten hot fire. She was everywhere, cursing him, yelling at him, screeching at him. Trapped in the torturous cage of his mind, Aro lost another thin strand of sanity that connected him to reality.

Suddenly though, the images and voices stopped and Aro was pulled back to the real world violently. Eyesight blurry, he gazed around at the still going on battle. There had been a visible change however. More vampires of the Volturi were dead then the Romanians. _"_We are losing," he whispered in disbelief, his eyes wide with horror.

"Yes, and we must go, now!" Marcus's urgent voice hissed in his left ear. Laying a shaky head to his surprisingly throbbing head, Aro looked at his dark haired brother then to his fair haired brother who was behind the throne room doors, waving wildly like a madman for them to come. "But…what about the guards?" Aro's eyes flicked at the leftover guards of the Volturi who had relentlessly risked their lives for him and his brothers for many, many centuries. "It was their idea. They want us to go, to keep the name of the Volturi alive!" As if he heard Marcus's powerful words, Demetri turned away from the Romanian he just killed, and with a sadden smile and pain-filled eyes, nodded solemnly at them. Then he leaped recklessly into the small midst of the last Volturi immortals who knew all was lost and were just fighting to distract the Romanians from seeing their leaders escape.

Aro frowned sadly as he followed his brother out the door. He didn't even turn back to look at his dying guards. For he knew, deep down, no matter how much they had respected him, he had failed them in return. "There is an escape route in my chambers. Come, Athenadora is waiting for us," Caius informed them before taking off down the dark hallway. Aro and Marcus quickly chased after him, their silhouettes getting sucked up in the waiting shadows in seconds. What they didn't know was that a pair of observant eyes was watching them run away.

It was when they were a few feet away from Caius's chambers that Aro turned back around. "What the hell are you doing, Aro?" Caius shouted as he and Marcus stopped in front of the door. Aro didn't answer back, speeding off back to his chambers. Once he was there, he burst through the entrance. He wasn't surprised to find Alexander gone. _I knew you were there. Just, waiting, for my back to be turned so you could come get your little boy toy. Too bad you didn't save him before I made him drink the poison that will surely be his death._ He smirked mercilessly at the thought of an crying Sulpicia holding Alexander to her chest as the life in him slowly ebbed out. Grabbing onto the wooden support, Aro lifted up the king-size bed with ease, making it crash to the wall. Just the way he left it was a small, black box with fancy silver lines that swirled all around the box. He blew out a relieved sigh while pulling out a tiny, silver key from his suit pants pocket. A small click rung out when Aro connected the key with the hole on the box. "Ah," he murmured as he lifted the lid up.

Laying softly on a stretch of smooth silk was a pointed dagger. Its hilt looked to be made out of strong leather, it being the color of blue that could only be seen from the midnight sky. The blade was a stainless steel, with a wicked edge that looked like it could cut through solid concrete. And right beside it was the scabbard, a beautiful jet-black with cut diamonds stitched into it. "Couldn't bear to leave you in the hands of the _Romanians._" Gently setting the dagger in its scabbard, Aro twisted on his heels, heading to the door when suddenly a piece of parchment on his dresser caught his eye. "Well, well, what do we have here?" Strolling over to it, he scanned over the familiar writing of his ex-mate and nearly had a heart attack. Hands shaking, he read the note again with horror etched into his features.

_Hello, my poor Aro,_

_I hope you're alive to read this, after all, the Romanians have taken over your precious castle and leadership, so I wouldn't be surprised if they did kill you. But if you are alive then yes, it was me that released Alexander from his horrid bonds. Hope you don't mind. I must say though, you're truly are evilly clever to force the poisonous blood of beasts inside him before I could stop it. No matter, I will find a way to ease the poison out of him, but why does that matter to you? After all, you're the most selfish and manipulative man on earth. If killing your innocent sister, Didyme, is any prove of that. Well, until we meet again, I shall say goodbye. Good luck with the life of an nomad. _

_Insincerely, Sulpicia. _

_P.S. Give my love to the others however, for they will forever be cherished in my heart._

Shaking his head back and forth, Aro ripped the mocking note to shreds, letting it drift to the ground like snow, and ran out the room. His brothers and sister-in-law were waiting for him inside the room, each with their own look of impatience. "Aro, I swear, you are one of the most reckless, thoughtless, foolish…" Caius trailed off, the black pupil of his eyes widening oddly while his nose flared.

"Aro, what do you have with you now that you didn't have with you a few minutes ago?" Caius said in a deep, growling voice. His hair bristled when he asked. Confused by the way his brother was acting, Aro lifted up the bottom of his jacket, revealing the hanging scabbard. "Just my Charax dagger that I had hidden underneath my bed." He grabbed the hilt of the deadly weapon, holding it up to show his family. Caius hissed and backed away from the visible weapon. His teeth were bare as he breathed deeply between through his clenched teeth like some type of wounded animal. His once red irises were now a pitch-black, hiding his dark pupils, and they didn't leave the sight of the dagger. Everything about him screamed dangerous and wild, worrying both Aro and Marcus. "Caius, Caius dear, look at me," Athenadora cooed as she laid her hands on her husband's feral face. His head turned sharply at her voice, his cautious expression melting into one of calmness.

"Aro, put away your dagger," She whispered quietly, not taking her eyes off Caius's while she petted his face. Immediately, Aro did as she asked. He was curious how his dagger could have caused such…reactions out of Caius, but he couldn't ask due to the fast approaching sounds of footsteps. "We…must…go," Caius said in a somewhat still growling voice, his breath coming out in soft, but harsh breaths in the dim silence. Nodding his head, Marcus turned to Aro. "Followed us, and stay close this time." Athenadora grabbed an ivory green book from the bookshelf and tilted it downward before pushing it back up. Nothing happened for a couple of seconds, just the sound of the footsteps slowly to a stealthy crawl. A shadow of footsteps appeared outside the door. That's when the right corner of the room began to rumble like a earthquake. Cracks formed in the walls as they began to break apart, revealing a dark tunnel. "The old grab-a-book-from-the-bookshelf-and-reveal-a-hidden-passageway trick. How original, you two," Aro drawled sarcastically at Caius and Athenadora, who in return, glared at him in annoyance. "Better then having nothing."

Whoever was at the door must have heard their conversation, for the doorknob started to turn wildly. "Ladies first," Aro said with an confident grin, waving his hands at the tunnel. Rolling her eyes, Athenadora walked forward into the darkness, closely follow by Caius. "See you on the other side, brother dear," Aro playfully growled before jumping through the doorway. His brother and sister were waiting for him, both with a lighted torch in their hands. "Marcus, pull down that torch next to you," Athenadora ordered, giving a torch to Aro and lighting it with her own. The entry closed up behind them when Marcus released the torch, just as a couple of Romanians broke through the door with expressions of hatred and shock. "That was too close," Marcus mumbled, receiving his own torch from Caius with an gracious nod. Sounds of agreement circled around.

"Best keep traveling then, just in case they find the way in." Caius entwined the fingers of his right hand with Athenadora's left hand, leading the way with the torch in his other hand lifted up high. They traveled through the endless darkness, through curves and bumpy drops. It must have been an hour or so when they finally saw a speck of light in the distance. "Thank the heavens! I thought we would be stuck in this darkness forever," Aro complained, pushing past his family to get to the light first. The tunnel got wider the closer he ran to the faint light, but also the sound of screaming. Slowing down, he looked up at the sewer drain where the sound of screams of terror were echoing from. "What's going on?" Athenadora asked, her golden hair swinging slightly. Aro shrugged as a reply, climbing up the slick, rusty ladder for a better view. Reaching the moldy sewer drain, he pushed it open slightly and peeked out. The sight that would be shown to him would forever haunt him.

***Evil Laugh* Cliff hangers! You got to love them. Hope this chapter answered and filled many questions. Remember to review, they make me update faster and give me more ideas. Oh, and Merry Christmas or Hanukah or whatever holiday you celebrate. Until next time, see ya! **


	3. The Bloodstained Price

**A/n: **I must say, I never thought this story would get so popular in only two chapters! I love you all for that though ! I must warn you however, this chapter is going to be pretty…violent and gory, so just prepared for it or skip past it if you can. Enjoy!

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Chapter Three-** The Bloodstained Price **

The many citizens of Volterra, who Aro had grow a fondness over to the point he hoped they never be dragged into the affairs of the supernatural, were killing one another. The screams were coming from those who still had their sanity and could not defend themselves and were fleeing for their lives. One such victim, a young woman, ran past the square fountain and was caught by a man who immediately stabbed her in the throat with a sharp piece of glass he must have found on the ground. Her scarlet red blood sprayed against the stone fountain like mist from an waterfall as the pointed glass met her fragile skin, painting the fountain in a gruesome manner with its vivid color. The man laughed like a maniac as the woman struggled for breath and freedom, and then stabbed her repeatedly until her struggles ceased and her blood flowed down her bare arms onto the stone, staining the pure water of the fountain with crimson liquid. Once he was done, he tossed her lifeless body in the fountain and ran off to find his next victim.

"Oh, my lord," Athenodora, who squeezed herself next to Aro to get a look outside, whispered in horror. Aro couldn't have said it better himself. Something was definitely wrong. Why would the mortals be killing one another so randomly like this? Unless…

"The Romanians!" Aro hissed, glancing over to Athenodora who stared back at him with wide eyes. "What about the Romanians? What's going on?" Caius and Marcus called down from below, impatiently pacing. Both him and Athenodora getting down slowly, Aro murmured to them with sadden eyes, "You best see for yourself, but I must warn you, the sight you're about to see is….scarring." Caius and Marcus glanced at each other before climbing up the ladder. Pushing open the drain, they gasped at the same time when the viewing of the horror that was happening was shown to them. More citizens were joining in the massacre, some dying and some fighting. It was beyond horrible, and immediately, Marcus and Caius closed the drain to hide it from view. With a small jump, they landed silently back onto the ground and crossed the dirty puddles to face Aro and Athenodora. Their eyes were clear of emotions, but their hands were clenched into tight fists.

"So, what is our next action? Do we wait till night for the violence to die down, or rush through that atrocity to get out the city now?" Marcus asked bluntly. Nobody had an answer for him. "Well?" He asked again, after a couple quiet seconds passed by.

Aro turned around to look back at the darkness from which they emerged from. He was sure the Romanians would sooner or later find there way in and would travel as fast as they could to find them. But the risk was too great. If him and his family appeared in the light of the sun, they would attract too much attention. Sighing, Aro raced up the ladder and took a look outside again. The violence was growing larger, due to the arrival of the police. The police shouted for the citizens of Volterra to calm down, but they weren't listening. Instead, they just moved on to attacking said police with makeshift weapons. Realizing they had no other choice but to shoot, the police aimed their guns and started firing bullets. Several people went down immediately, not getting up again, thus giving human shields to the still alive citizens who roared for blood.

Cringing at each shot he heard, Aro gazed up. The sun was setting lowly behind the hills, streaks of orange coloring the sky behind it. "Hmm." Going back down, Aro jogged over to his family. "I think we'll be fine as long as we keep the hoods of our cloaks up," he said, pulling up his fur-trimmed cloak to cover his face as he spoke. Marcus and Athenodora followed his lead, but Caius seemed a bit reluctant.

"The risk though! I can hear more mortals coming from all corners of the city, trying to put a stop to the madness in the square!" Caius exclaimed, grabbing fistfuls of his blonde hair in angry indecision. Athenodora gently grabbed his hands and took them away from his hair. Then, with a soft, "It's going to be okay, Caius," she kissed him gently on the lips, twisting her fingers into his hair. At first, Caius froze, his hands curled into claws by his sides, but once the anxiety began to remove itself from his mind, he responded back passionately, wrapping his hands around Athenodora's waist to bring her closer. They clutched each other with fervid moans as Aro and Marcus awkwardly turned away from them. Aro and Marcus tried to block out the enthusiastic sounds, but with little success. The sounds of splashing footsteps stopped them however. All four of them freezing, they listened closely as the footsteps were soon followed by voices.

"Where you think those Italian scum went?" A brawny voice asked from deep within the darkness, barely audible which came to a great relief to Aro and the others. It meant the Romanians were too far away to catch their scent in the dampness.

"Who knows? Perhaps they were caught already. However, if they haven't, it's our job to scope them out. From what Lords' Stefan and Vladimir said, they were last seen coming down here. So stay alert," A feminine, snake-like voice ordered in response.

Aro backed away with cautious steps, his gaze trained in front of him, but cursed under his breath when his foot made contact with a puddle, echoing the sound against the walls loudly.

"Did you hear that?" The same brawny voice yelled excitedly.

"Yeah! Let's go!"

Aro shook his head and gazed around for an hiding place. "Up here, Aro!" Athenodora hissed from above. Looking up, Aro gaped at the sight of his sister and brothers holding onto the slick pipes of the ceiling. They motioned for him to come up too. Crouching down, he ran to the left side of the wall and jumped on the pipes to reach the ceiling, swinging his body to meet each place. He leaped and crawled stealthily until he was on the other side of Marcus. Just in time too, for the Romanians burst out the darkness and stopped right underneath them. The owner of the brawny voice was a burly man, with ragged brown hair and a long, pale scar crossed over from the corner of his right eye to the bottom of his chin. The woman beside him was a thin figure with sharp, silver hair that was pointed down her back like freshly made icicles. Her full lips were pulled down in a grimace.

"I could have sworn I'd heard a voice. A curse," The man mumbled with a tone of confusion. He rubbed the back of his neck as he gazed around the damp area. Aro bit his tongue deeply, trying to stop the laughter in his chest from erupting out his throat, but his lips did curled into a mocking grin. One of the few weaknesses of an vampire was, they never looked up. Even he had to admit that on many occasions he didn't thoroughly checked his surroundings when he was in battle.

"I thought so too. Perhaps it was just the sounds of the _mortals_ latrine system. Disgusting creatures, they are," The woman sneered with a disdainful glance around. Then she smiled evilly. "Though I must say, they do put on a nice show. Did you managed to see the fighting going on outside?" The man chuckled darkly and nodded, his eyes glowing with pride, adoration and malicious.

"My mate, Corina, sure has a powerful effect over humans, don't you think?" He asked with a trance-like smile. The woman beside him snickered and just gave a nod in agreement. Aro eyes twitched furiously, his anger burning deep inside him. He could see in the corner of his eyes that his family were reacting the same way, especially Marcus who actually looked like he was going to go ballistic. Making eye contact with Caius, Aro quirked an questioning eyebrow. Caius nodded back slowly with a steel gaze. They both turned their attention to the Romanians and released their grips on the pipes, freefalling down for a few slow seconds before landing straight on the Romanian guards. Immediately, the Romanians tried to squirm away, but Aro and Caius wrapped their arms around them, locking them in deadly grips.

"You know, I should kill you right now just for your insolence," Aro hissed in the ear of the female, his fingers wrapping around her throat like that of a snake. She snarled back at him with fangs bared, her crimson eyes looking around for an escape. Marcus was blocking their original route, his body crouched down in a defensive position for any signs of them breaking apart from Aro and Caius' holds. Athenodora stood by the ladder, her arms crossed. Seeing there was no visible escape way, the woman put on a pleading expression and gazed up at Aro with wide, innocent-like eyes. "Please, don't kill us. We just want to get back to the surface," She whimpered with her bottom lip puffing out. Aro laughed disbelievingly and shook his head, his fingers gripping tighter. "My dear, I've received that look so many times, I'm immune now to its influence. And the fact that yours is so obviously weak and unskilled at it, it doesn't even faze me."

Then Aro tilted his head, curiosity settling on his features. "But do tell me. How is it this, 'Corina' managed to make my pure citizens turned into mindless, murderous beasts?" The male in Caius's grip snapped his teeth at Aro with furious, possessive eyes.

"That's none of your fucking business!" He roared, struggling once again to break free. Aro lifted his head up and gazed at the fighting man, amusement clearly seen in his patient smile. Clucking his tongue with a false, disappointed shake of his head, he purred, "All I want to do is meet her. I'm sure she's a real _pleasure_." Aro waggled his eyebrows suggestively, a jeering grin appearing on his face. The man roared again, his struggles getting stronger with each teasing insult Aro threw at him. Annoyed, Aro ripped the head of the woman in his arms and then the rest of her body until she was nothing, but small pieces of body parts. Then he confidently strolled over to the infuriated immortal. Carefully, he pressed the tip of his finger on the male's forehead as Marcus and Caius grunted with effort to hold the man down.

Immediately, Aro was hit with waves of thoughts and memories. "Ah." Corina, she was small, but with a fiery nature that could burn anything or anyone in her way. She had flowing, ginger hair and wore red bracelets around her wrist all the time, though she didn't seem to explain why. Done getting the information he needed, Aro signaled to Caius to ripped the vampire apart. After that, they spread the pieces of both the female and male around different areas before pulling up their hoods. With an worried sigh, Aro lead the way out the sewer. It was nightfall, the moon hidden, but the stars visibly seen. There was a dark silence settled over the city, also the scent of blood and death. Bodies were piled in small heaps as a few policeman and detectives were walking around with horrified expressions. Keeping his sight on them, Aro raced toward the shadows of the buildings that were closer to the exits, trying not to slip on any puddles of blood while doing so. Once he was across, he motioned to the others for them to follow him. Quickly, they repeated his actions.

"I still say we should have completely killed those two Romanians," Caius said as he stopped beside Aro. Aro shook his head in disagreement. "If we would have done that, Vladimir and Stefan would have more likely sent more guards to capture us for vengeance. Besides, we had no matches to burn the pieces." Caius grumbled unintelligibly as Athenodora patted his shoulder softly. Taking lead, Aro walked through the many alleyways with his family by his side. The sight of a man with bloody flesh in hanging out his mouth, blocking their way as well, stopped them however. He growled and grunted at them, his crazed eyes shifting to all four of them before landing on Athenodora permanently. Athenodora let loose a small cry while Caius growled protectively, hiding her view with his tall figure. Realizing what was about to happened, Aro appeared behind the cannibal and snapped his neck twice, dropping his lifeless body onto the cobblestone ground with an low _thump_.

"Must be aftereffects of Corina's gift," Marcus said calmly. After that, they kept their senses alert for any more cannibalistic survivors. Thankfully, they saw no more, but there was evidence of them all around. Ten minutes later, they were outside the city walls. "Thank the gods," Caius murmured, relief etched in his expression. They made there way up the hills, heading to the forest. Aro turned away as his family melted into the trees. His eyes swept Volterra, the city he had love with all his heart. Even from his place, he could see the bodies. "So this is the price of our stupidity and cowardly actions. Stained with the blood of innocent people who had no idea what was going to happen," he growled in a bitter tone. His hands in pulsing fists, he pulled his self away from the sight and drifted away to merged with the shadows of his hidden fate.

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**First question. Should I change the rating to M because of this chapter? Just curious. Second, sorry to all who are scarred for life. I just wanted a nice twist to this chapter. Anyway, do review and I hope you kind of enjoyed this chapter, but you know…. **


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